Dexter's Season 7 Premiere: Yes.

I'm going to start this review by being a little self-reflexive, if you don’t mind. If you do mind, I’m sorry, pretend like this is Dexter and I’m doing the bad voiceover parts.

Anyway, at this stage in its life, Dexter is a going to be an interesting show to review. Some would say that the show hasn’t been very good for good while now, though I think I enjoyed Season 5 and Julia Stiles’ Lumen about as much as anyone. Last season was, without question, a disaster.
It certainly had its moments, and the two leads did everything they could to keep things afloat, but when the show’s “big twist” was easily visible from the jump and apparently only the show’s writers didn’t know, it was difficult to stomach for a dozen episodes. When a show starts building its entire season around generic “big” topics like religion, it’s easy to suggest that said show might be on its last creative legs—and Dexter backed that up most weeks last season.

However, Season 6 ended on a pretty great note with Deb walking in on Dexter taking care of the delusional Travis (Colin Hanks) and the offseason brought even better news: The show is doing 24 more episodes and then calling it a day. No show on television needed an end-date more than Dexter. So with all of that said, I'm approaching Season 7 with a lot of optimism for a series I thought I'd never be optimistic about again. There are still big parts of Dexter I don’t care for and that keeps it from being part of the pantheon of capital-G Great television—you know, like all the mediocre supporting characters and their respective aimless storylines—but the screwed up brother-sister relationship at the core of the show is tremendous.

And unsurprisingly, that relationship was at the core of the Season 7 premiere, “Are You…?” Although the episode tried to trick the audience with a silly in media res moment that suggested
Dexter—both the character and the show—aren’t willing to engage with the new realities of the Dexter-Deb relationship, it quickly pulled back to reveal that actually, yes, finally, the show wants to see what happens when Deb finally knows what kind of person her brother is.

What was smart about the way this episode handled Deb discovering Dexter with Travis is that it sort of lulled us into a place where we thought Deb was going to be stupid—or perhaps just blind—enough to believe the bull that Dexter fed her about how he just “snapped” on Travis (mostly because he’s still dealing with Rita’s death). After six years, I think we’ve all grown a little weary of Deb’s
inability to recognize certain truths about her brother, so the first 10 minutes of the episode, where he methodically sold her on what happened, it all made sense. It was frustrating, and for a few moments I thought Dexter was backing away from the cliffhanger, but it made sense for Deb as a
character. She doesn’t want to believe that Dexter could even kill one person, let alone think that it was meticulously planned. He’s her blind spot.

But once they took care of the scene by lighting the church on fire and making it look like Travis killed himself in light of there being no apocalypse and Dexter seemed perfectly fine with lying to everyone else on the team, Deb started to realize that hey, maybe this guy is more demented and dangerous than she thought. The episode was structured really well in that it kept trying to slide
back into typical Dexter rhythms—some case of the week, lots of Dexter internal monologuing, etc.—but every time it did, Deb’s concern and curiosity disrupted the proceedings. She recognized that Dexter’s preparation of Travis’s body was just like how Brian/The Ice Truck Killer worked and while that knowledge started causing her to have traumatic episodes, she also pushed forward and started re-investigating that case. She confronted Dexter about the plastic tarp, the batch of knives, and the leather apron. He, of course, tried to write it all off as part of Travis’s gear but he didn't really convince Deb of anything.

Dexter spent much of this episode trying to figure out how to move on from the event without revealing any more information. He considered running (like always) and eventually decided on killing this week’s Even More Terrible Person, Viktor (Dollhouse’s Enver Gjokaj), who dispatched of Mike (the new guy from last year who you probably forgot about). Dexter chased Viktor to the airport, bringing us back to the tricky in media res opening, grabbed him, and then spent a few
minutes conveniently talking about how he isn’t sure who he is and how he wishes things would go back to the way they were. Although Dexter often has compelling things to say about the title character’s psychology, the way that the writers actually express them is sometimes sloppy and generic (for example: Viktor asked Dexter who he is and Dex replied with “Good question, depends on who you ask.” Yow.).

The second half of the episode, particularly Dexter's chasing down and discarding of Viktor, was quite familiar and unimpressive. However, in the final few minutes Deb’s curiosity disrupted the formula one more time, and in a way that hasn’t really been done since Rita’s death. Dex returned home from dumping Viktor’s body to find that Deb had ransacked his apartment and discovered the blood
slide collection, among other things. The two shared the most honest and important conversation in the show’s history:

Deb: “Did you kill all these people?”

Dexter: “I did.”

Deb: “Are you a serial killer?”

Dexter: “Yes.”

It’s taken over 70 episodes, many of them mediocre, to get to that moment, but man, it almost feels worth it. Dexter has spent all this time trying to hide his true self from Deb and she has spent all this time (arguably) trying to get closer to him. Although I think the show dragged out the reveal long enough, I will say that it is nice that we now have a more assertive and somewhat stable Deb who will deal with this information. She’s going to be a mess, no doubt, but she’s also better-suited to process the news and decide what to do moving forward. I’ll be curious to see whether this season returns to Deb’s somewhat screwed-up and possibly deeper feelings for Dexter, because that obviously makes matters even
more complicated.

Nevertheless, the writers were smart to have Deb actively go find more information instead of just stumbling into everything. It makes her look better and also further reinforces the fact that her knowledge is now a destabilizing force in the show’s and the title character’s world. For a moment there it seemed like “Are You…?” was going to wiggle out of truly dealing with the truth, but that was all part of a good misdirect to put us into the headspace of Dexter himself. He wanted to think everything was fine, that he could B.S. his way back into a certain level of comfort. But he can’t, and he probably won’t be comfortable for a very long time—or ever again.

This is the episode that the show needed. There was still a lot of fluff, but the only people who really matter right now are Dexter and Deb, and “Are You…?” suggested that finally, the show is willing to play the one card it has left. We might be in for great final run.

NOTES

– Unless really big things happen with them, I'll probably only discuss the supporting characters in this space. To be honest, other than Masuka, I find everyone else on this show to be pretty miserable. LaGuerta is one of my least favorite characters on all of television and Batista and Quinn are just there. So no, I don’t really care that LaGuerta is suddenly interested in the blood slide
that Dexter accidentally left at the crime scene. And I certainly am unmoved by Batista and Quinn barking at each other to change when we know that they won’t.

– I kind of liked Mike, though. I’ll miss him.

– From the looks of things (I have only seen this episode so far), Viktor’s death is part of a much larger story involving a Russian crime syndicate. Jason Gedrick is a solid performer and I’m curious to see what Ray Stevenson will do as well. However, the show’s big “arcs” have been weak in the last two seasons, so I’m not holding out hope.

– I was amused by Parenthood’s Savannah Paige Rae playing young Deb and thinking about Sydney Graham growing into a foul-mouthed detective.

I still think that this was a very good episode, because they got the Dex-Deb interaction exactly right, but the bad parts of the episode irritate me more the more I think about them. Why did that have to be an airport? Why?

Wow .. good episode! I also thought the writers were gonna wriggle their way out of Deb knowing the truth once again - I don't know how many times I actually said "Just tell her!!" out loud during the episode ... but the reveal was just perfect at the end. The new dynamics of the Dex-Deb relationship are going to add some much-needed spice to this stale show. I'm actually looking forward to a good season of Dexter ... finally!

PS: I actually liked the "kill of the week" this time ... "I have your wheelchair ready for you", "I don't need a wheelch.... zzzz" LOL

Kinda hoping LaGuerta gets the big kiss-off this season, so I have actually happy she found that blood slice... a definite signal she's on her way to her grave.

Based on who she became after going through so much crap, I was not at all surprise to see Deb questioning Dexter throughout the whole episode. Her going through his whole apartment, though? Not at all. Really am proud of Deb - yes, she's going to be on meltdown-mode for the next couple of episodes, if not the whole season, but at least she is finally acting like the great detective everybody kept telling her she was.

I have one question, though: how much will Dexter actually tell her? Yeah, he's a serial killer, and he'll probably have to explain Harry's role in all of this. But what about the whole Brian incident? How about Doakes? How about Arthur Mitchell and his very direct connection to Rita's death? Will Dexter be completely honest or will he still hide from his sister some misdeeds his Dark Passenger made him do?

Dexter's main problem has always been its ability to wiggle out of making any real changes. It promises so much change, so much drama, and then snatches it away again at the very last second; something which shows like Breaking Bad never, ever do.

I mean, the way the episode started, where he's running the the airport, you are made to think that everything is about to change and get interesting. Using false cliff hangers like that to excite us, only to reveal those sequences as false ... that's just terrible writing. Sure, have him wiggle out of things, but don't pretend like he's already caught only to reveal it as simply him going to the airport to kill somebody, and trying to withdraw cash on cards that a nerd cancelled. That's a worse plot device than Deus Ex Machina, and it's really reaching.

Problem is, the show will do it with this too. It will drag Deb's discovery out, as she wrestles with the idea of turning her brother in for 21 episodes, until finally she gets killed and leaves him in the clear. But if they were being realistic about it, and wanted to give us a truly interesting season, they'd have her turn him in, and make Dex go on the run. The final season would be about the hunt for the real Bay Harbour Butcher. But they won't do that, they just don't have the balls.

People complain about the 6th season, but Dexter has actually been hit or miss since season 2. Killing off Doakes left an enormous hole-- he was the most interesting character on the show, and that includes Dexter himself. Season 3 had a few moments, and Lithgow saved season 4 (if they hadn't had him, it would have been a disaster) but I agree-- this show has never been GREAT-- even this episode teased a potentially interesting plot point (Dexter on the run) before revealing it as yet another repetitive murder.

This show could have had an amazing season 5 and then made that the last one but instead they forget all about the potential arc started by Trinity and go off in an infinitely less interesting direction. It's almost too late to save the show.

I stopped watching this show after season 2 and just kept reading season recaps to keep up with important updates. I saw the 7th season premiere after reading your review and it was like I have seen all previous episodes. It was great and I might consider watching this season and ignoring that seasons 3 to 6 existed.

The last season was SO horrible that I was ready to give up this show for good (even though I loved (!) the seasons 1, 2 and 4). BUT this premiere was really unexpected in several ways. They managed to turn it around for now and this episode had a lot of great moments. Did anyone recognize the different camera angles, scenography and change in sound design? You really can see how they changed their style to the better. Sure, some things are still too "convenient" and seem unrealistic (La Guerta's discovering, how the detective's death coincided with his suspicions and Dexter's next kill etc...) but this episode for ONCE focused on good character writing and not omitting central conflicts, instead letting them play out on the scene without stretching them for a whole season.

That being said I'm still unsure if they can keep the quality up. It depends on how fast they want to return to the "status quo" (hopefully they don't at all). If the Debra arch is solved in 2 episodes and some random "season villain" comes up as the main season arch AGAIN I'm done for good because after 6 seasons I finally want to see some real character development and conflicts and not the same thing for the seventh time with a new face.

that was a wonderful premiere, i was at the edge of my seat throughout the whole show. I was really repulse with the idea of how they were trying to get deb falling in love with dexter last season, but somehow, i don't know, they look like they could make a good couple in this episode. I'm really looking forward to see how their relationship is going to develop and specifically what kind of impact deb will be having on dexter now she knows everything. I love it!!

Oh yea, another good thing for us, the guy who reviews the vampire diary and teen wolf isn't reviewing this show anymore. I have a great feeling this season is going to be ride for greatness.

Brilliant season opener. Deb now in the know is going to make for a very interesting season. Looking forward to Yvonne Strahovski's character to join in later this season. Pretty stoked with the opener, hope they keep it rolling!

Hey welcome Cory! You seem like a sensible critic. I didn't like last season, but Price simply bashing it got on my nerves. Debra was the single saving grace and Jennifer Carpenter continues to amaze me,

My favorite seasons of Dexter are 4 and 5! I loved season 5, unlike many others. Lumen brought something new and invoked emotions in Dex to such an extent, I had to love that arc.

This single episode made up for the entire season 6 fiasco. Wonderfully paced and written (except for the airport death which was ridiculous). I always hated Quinn the most, second place goes to LaGuerta. But she seems to have an intriguing storyline this season. I'm very excited for this penultimate season.

I gave up on Dexter somewhere during S5. It just fell off my radar. And with all the reviews of S6 I didn't bother watching it. But I'd read that Deb caught Dexter and thought now is the perfect time to jump back in.

The first episode was nothing special but I agree the best dialogue ever spoke came during this episode and it was four simple lines that should of come during S5 I think.

I also agree that LaGuerta finding the blood slide and Batista and Quinn's troubles were boring. I wanted more Deb and Dexter.

I think episode 2 is going to be much better, Deb surrounded by Dexters "killing" equipment was more thrilling than anything else in the episode. I'm going to stick with Dexter until the end, I just hope it's an exciting ride

I think this was a pretty good episode for what the show now is. By that, I mean... It wasn't great in comparison to previous episodes or seasons of Dexter -- it still doesn't come close to most (if not all) of the episodes of the first four seasons, maybe even the fifth -- but it was better than all of last season. So, in a way, I'm going to act like this Dexter is a different show than earlier Dexter... because as far as I can tell, starting season 5 and mostly during season 6, the writing, the directing, the characters, the plotting, etc. ALL changed for the worse.

I'm kind of disappointed Mike was killed off already. I know he didn't play a big role or anything, but he seemed to be the only remotely competent detective at Miami Metro. With him out, it's back to idiots like Batista and Quinn. Batista is kind of okay though, just because he's nice and shit. I guess my point is: WHY WONT QUINN OR LaGUERTA DIE?! The show may or may not be promoting the idea that serial killing is cool, but it's DEFINITELY promoting the message that stupidity keeps you alive. Hehe.

In general, I think what made this episode good and the only part that I really liked (and reasonably so, since it's clearly the most significant) was Debra's way of finding out about Dexter. At the end of last season, I felt that the writers would go the direction of having Debra believe this to be a one time thing and wont know that Dexter's a serial killer... and I really disliked that idea. Although that's how they played it for most of the episode, I was quite thankful and happy that Debra kept at it and actually deduced Dexter as a serial killer by the end of the episode.

Oh, also, I love Ray Stevenson and am stoked that he's a part of this season. Of course, that may not mean much because I loved Olmos, Hanks, and Mos Def for last season, but bad writing always trumps good acting.

Totally agree. Seasons 1 & 2 were pretty awesome. 3 was so forgettable I had to read the plot again and 4 & 5 were great - so I don't think the arc was weak for season 5 either. The show has a lot of weak elements but its strengths are in how it develops. The Johnny Lee Miller and Lumen storyline was pretty strong and a convincing outline for a season. Totally original in how they dealt with the idea I think as well.

Wow do you abhor everything about this show...did the writers murder your family? I haven;t seen this much contempt for a show in a long while...you make it sound like a one and done series on network cable...you mad bro?

Should've changed the writing team. One or two decent scenes in an episode that felt like I was watching some old CBS show. Nobody gives a shit about details in this show anymore. So many incoherent things happening... This has completely gone off the rails on pretending to be like a real police farce team. I'm sorry, force. Also, can they stop going back into dexter's memory? Like 3 or 4 different kids have been used by now? Plus this new kid seems to have a different personality than the others. Change the trick already. The final scene between deb and dex gave me hope, but not a lot.

LOVE this episode. I was one of those who did really enjoy last season. Even with that, though, I have been WAITING for THIS. And they did it well. You are exactly correct in saying that while it looked like the writers were going to try and wriggle out of it, the way that they did it was exactly in character for Deb. She's a good cop, though, even though in every other aspect of her life she can be a mess, and she figured it out. And it was awesome. I was expecting her to come up with the answer. I was not quite prepared for the ransacked apartment, though, and kudos to her for that. Beautiful. And that conversation between them was just Grade-A "Dexter".

Also who goes largely unmentioned when discussing this show is flashback-Harry, but whose limited presence (as it usually is fairly limited) was the perfect sprinkling into this show. Scenes that would be on both Deb's and Dexter's minds as perfect reveals as Dexter flounders for examples that his father used to cover things up to try and reinforce his own lies and Deb searches for moments in her life where, as now, she really did feel uncomfortable and unsatisfied with the answers that were given to her by her family. Beautiful.

-Maria LaGuerta can go die and then die again and again and again. How they didn't kill her off years ago is beyond me. Batista and Masuka are fun enough in my book, but Quinn just annoys and I would have killed him off early last year as he had outlived his usefulness to Deb's character by the opening episode of that season.

-I kind of liked Mike, too. I thought he was going to play adversary to Dex and Deb for season 8 as Doakes did in seasons 1 and 2.

-I have high hopes. I think it could be really good stuff. Especially if it's centered around a group. There really are just so many solo serial killers.

-ABSOLUTELY. Blew me away for a second because that is absolutely not how I see her character from "Parenthood" turning out, yet she was solid enough in this episode.

Also, is it telling that for the first time in a long while we've heard straight up mention of James Doakes? Just thinking, I hate LaGuerta, though, so she should go die as far as that goes, and how I would love for Dex to torture her just a little first, too. That would be so nice....

I also noticed that Deb's ransacking included the lovely hand sent to Dex by Batista's little sister's boyfriend (the tech guy or whoever from last season, I forget his name, but he's a recognizable actor). Definitely leading somewhere with that, maybe that's for season 8, too? Great premiere, excited for the race to the finish.

Wow, I was 100% sure they would chicken out and Deb would just believe Dexter, which makes no sense at all. So I was super-happy with the final scenes from this episode. To be honest, the last 2 seasons of Dexter were so bad I stopped watching both of them midway through each season, and finished watching in my spare time after they finished airing all episodes. Now, finally, I have hope that the show will go back to the same level of quality it was in the first 3-4 seasons.

Perfect season 7 premiere and the writing was awesome. Just when you think it will be the same old show, Deb makes progress in discovering who Dexter really is. I think this is one of the greatest shows of all time, the other characters people don't like are awesome to me and are part of what makes the show fun to watch, even if we dislike them or think they are useless. I am excited to see how things play out!

Awesome episode. Played with us the whole episode about whether Deb was truly going to find the truth or whether they were going to undo season 6's finale with Dexter covering his tracks.

Great name for the episode as well and in general really enjoyable return for everyone's favourite serial killer. Now let's just hope that level can be maintained throughout the season.

Question: Can someone remind me of how much LaGuerta knows? It's completley left my mind as to whether she knows about Dexter to some degree or whether she just knows Dokes wasn't the Bay Harbor Butcher? Any clarification would be greatly appreciated from someone with not quite such a porous mind.

I have only seen season 2 once, when it aired. So I don't remember everything perfectly either. I think that near the end of season 2, she was fairly certain that Doakes was innocent. I think she knew that when Doakes left the country for a while, it was specifically to have some foreign forensics guys look at the blood samples. I'm not sure, but I don't think he had told her that he found the blood samples in Dexter's apartment. (The cops later found the blood samples in Doakes's car). She knew that Doakes was having some sort of problem with Dexter. But he couldn't have told her that Dexter was the Bay Harbor Butcher, because *he* didn't know until the moment he was captured and killed.

One thing I do remember is that when season 3 started, I was pretty irritated that LaGuerta had completely flip-flopped and stopped questioning that Doakes was the BHB, even though she knew the purpose of his trip abroad. (I don't remember where he went. Cuba? Haiti?)

About time, writers! About time. The last time you pulled off a strong cliffangher was 24 episodes ago (The Getaway).

This was pure Dexter from beginning to end, but the scene at the airport (why is there not a camera in the baggage room, guys?). Great start. Let's see how this will change Dexter after his relieved "yes".

I think this was an awesome episode. Yes, there were several things I didn't like, especially that he started killing again so quickly, and in an airport of all places. But I'm not going to nitpic plot details that could have been better when the stuff that's happening to the main characters is awesome. So here are some things I liked:

* Jennifer Carpenter. She's *** amazing. It's ridiculous that she's never even been nominated for an Emmy. She should own that category.

*Finally the characters seem to remember things that happened in the past, the plastic wrap, Doakes and the Bay Harbor Butcher case.

*It looks like LaGuerta is going to be more than a waste of time this season. It makes sense that she's the one who will be looking into this, because of her friendship with Doakes. It also makes sense that she won't enlist the help of this forensics team. Also, if Dexter ends up killing her, we won't be as upset as if he had killed Masuka.

*That they killed off the new guy. There was nothing wrong with the actor or the character, but I don't think he would have been very useful this season.

*The final scene. In particular, that Deb searched his place well enough to find the trophy case, the question "Did you kill all these people?" and that the episode ended with Dexter's "Yes."

If you know that, you also know that we don't know anything more than you do. Aster came to visit in episode 5x09 (the only great episode of season 5). I don't think we have heard anything about them since then.

I think it took my about three hours to watch this episode because i had to pause every 5 minutes because i couldn't bear the tension. Dexter is at it's best when he is about to be found out. So this episode was definitely a great one imo. I too liked that Deb found out the way she did. What i can't get behind is how dismissive you are about Laguerta finding the blood slide. This is probably the one thing that won't let me sleep tonight. It is the barrel filled with powder and you can already hear the match being lit. Additionally, whats up with Lewis?

I'm more intrigued about the Josh subplot. The theories of his relationship to Brian would be interesting, but i think that would be a bit of a cop out.

I could care less about the Ukranian bad guys. Boring.

Would love to see LaGuerta get too close to discovering Dexter's secret, leaving Dexter to break his code and finally kill her. Can't stand her character. Or Deb interfering with LaGuerta's investigation...

I'll start by saying that this episode blew any episode of last season out of the water. There were a few of the usual Dexter problems there, but just a huge step up overall. To the person below who complained about Deb taking the whole episode to find out the whole truth about Dex, I was afraid they would take episodes or even the whole fucking season to just get that far. Dex and Deb were awesome tonight, and I look forward to seeing more of this dynamic, which is something the show has needed for awhile now. As for the others, Masuka is still funny, Angel and Quinn still suck, LaGuerta is still unlikeable but has something relevant to do, Louis is a creep, Mike was more tolerable than a lot of other characters, and the Russians weren't too bad, at least compared to the awful Travis/Gellar duo. Oh and I like Harry so much better in flashbacks. It still has a chance to fall apart anytime, but I will remain optimistic for now. Welcome back Dexter!

I don't like Dexter anymore , I am still watching it because the first seasons made me a fan of the show , but after a bad season 6 , I don't see how the writers can go back on tracks.

It's the same kind of writing than last year , bad story lines for most of the supporting characters , dexter's story line seems too quick , a lot of shortcuts , he find a guy , find 2 or 3 clues that are really easy to find , he doesn't have his ritual any more ...

And now it's almost stupid to see Debra into that.Before I was hoping that Dexter won't get caught , now honestly I don't care , the fact that he is still free after all those mistakes and bullshit events seems unplausible.

I will continue to watch the show but not like before , I am not enjoying it , I am just curious to see where the writers are going , and how bad this show is gonna end.

I like that Dex tried to bullshit his way out, he tried to tell Deb to let it go, heck he even apologized on mulitiple occassions...all the while getting increasingly frustrated and slowly revealing his true personality to Deb whether he was trying to or not.

Deb was completely freaked out, and understanably so. I liked that she would seemingly believe Dexter, but was smart enough to realize that his reasons were terrible and even if she didn't really want to find out the truth, she is not the type of person to just let things go.

Two more things:

There was a voiceover by Dexter where he says compassion is not in his nature and that he should've killed Travis the first time. Well ya, we all knew that...that was part of last season's problem and I'm glad the writers did acknowledge it, even if it was a throw away line.

Also that previously on segnment at the beginning summarizing last season was very well done. It pointed out the parts we needed to know in order to appreciate what was to come, further proving my belief that last season was just filler. If you havn't seen season 6, just watch the opening summary and you will get the jist.

It's called buildup; Dexter's a drama, after all. I mean, if you apply your logic to the rest of the series, Dexter should kill the Jimmy Smits and John Lithgows of the show in 30 minutes instead of it taking an entire season. Deb was probably in denial and needed time to process.

1) to compare season's 3 and 4 main plot to now is stupid and I never said everything needs to be shown in 5min!!!

2) ur "buildup" was going on for 6 seasons and when she caught him killing Travis, it could be all talked over at that time in first 5min and show would go on from there....what u got was...well what we got was this....

So what you're telling me is that if you had some deep dark secret that you had been keeping your entire life and this secret getting out could absolutely ruin you... you'd just own up to it as soon as someone caught you in the act? You wouldn't try to cover it up at all or try to explain it away as some sort of misunderstanding? Thirty years of hiding just out the window like it's no big deal? Really?

And let's look at things from the sister's perspective. Let's say THE most important person in your life--your one constant that you have been able to depend on since you were little--was actually a sociopath that had killed all these people. You'd just automatically assume the worst and confront the one good thing in your life? There's absolutely no chance you'd be in denial about the situation? You wouldn't try to rationalize the clues away?

Consider your answers because if you answered in the affirmative, you're either lying to yourself or there's a good chance there's something wrong with you, no offense.

she caught him there killing Travis.....yes confusion,time to process what she saw and all is understandable,but they took 55min to come to questions,that could all take in early part of episode....it is tv show, time runs diferently...one scene can be at the moment scene and next one can be 1 week from now-> this was just example,not saying that they should do it this way. I hope u get what I wanna say here.

Yes, she DID CONFRONT him ( I would to yes) at end of episode...what show were u watching?

with season 6,they took over "half" season to "reveal" that Travis also had imaginary friend.....and that made season WEAK and show boring

What are you talking about? It makes perfect sense that he would try to lie, that she would be completely freaked out, and that she would need some time to process what she saw. That stuff was done perfectly.

Well, I have a soft spot for Julia Stiles, so that should at least make season 5 bearable. I also want to watch more to find out who's the douche that was in Dex's apartment and canceled his credit cards. I don't know anything about him, but as things stand, I'm looking forward to a bloody demise in the near future.

This is an explanation of who the creep is. I had typed most of it before I realized that you may not want to read it. Do what you want. Minor spoilers ahead.

Masuka had three different interns at the forensics department last year. The creep was the last one. They were all forensics students, but this guy wasn't planning to do it for a living. He was just a video game designer who wanted to learn how to make a cool game about serial killers. He started going out with the babysitter (Batista's sister) after everyone at work came to Harrison's 1st birthday party.

The mannequin hand that you saw in the final scene of this episode was evidence from the ice truck killer case. It was stolen by the super hot flirty second intern (Daphne from Heroes), only because she wanted to sell it on ebay. Masuka suspected something like that, and asked the third intern guy to look into it. He then *bought* the hand and told Masuka that it will be impossible to find out who bought it.

For some reason that isn't clear to any of us yet, he then sent the hand to Dexter's home address. If I recall correctly, he had first tried to get Dexter to be his friend, but Dexter had turned him down in a rude way, and told him that his video game idea was crap.

Mike had to go live on Sons of Anarchy, so he needed to make a good departure. It worked for me. I think Deb's world is reeling because she basically admitted to her shrink last year that she was in love with Dexter. And now, she finds out that he's a serial killer. That just reinforces her "I'm attracted to fucked-up guys" theory, which turns her into a complete mess. It's a vicious cycle. The previews showed her freaking out several times. Deb just needs to accept it and go on a kill with him one time to observe Dexter's whole process.

After last season, this episode was exactly the kick in the pants the show needed. I agree on the bit about the side characters, although I think you have things a bit wrong. When you said LaGuerta, I'm sure you meant Quinn, since he is by far the worst character on the show, period. LaGuerta is a bitch, for sure, but she's always been a large foil for characters in the show, and has served a purpose, and I've always at least enjoyed her bitchiness. But Quinn is really just a gigantic fuckup who should have lost his badge years ago, but somehow manages to continue serving. He seems to have little to no respect for his teammates, or himself, and just boozes and fucks his way through life. Absolutely nothing enjoyable about his character, whatsoever.

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